Bioware released some more free DLC for Mass Effect 2 today, this time in the form of a new weapon for the game.

The Arc Projector ionizes targets with a non-visible laser to ready them for a high-voltage electrical attack. As the lightning-like bolt hits its first target, a sophisticated auto-targeting system paints succeeding targets with the ionization laser, allowing the electricity to take the path of least resistance and arc between them. An entire enemy strike team can be shocked to death with a few pulls of the trigger. Careful aiming will also allow the user to arc shots to nearby explosives as well.

You can get the new DLC through the Cerberus Network, which is located on the games main menu.

If one weapon isn’t enough for you then you’ll be able to download the ‘Firewalker Pack’ later this month, which includes five new missions and a tank.

Final Fantasy XIII is Square Enix's next blockbuster release, coming out in March

Square Enix recently reported rather sizeable profit increases on a year-on-year basis, with increases in the many billions of Yen.

They have stated that their operating income increased by 68% from the previous year, to 21.4 billion yen and that net sales for the period were up 30% to 135 billion yen. Square obviously have the release of Final Fantasy XIII in Japan to thank for a lot of that, as well as Arkham Asylum which sold very well. This is pretty good news given the current economical climate and all that stuff that I am not going to pretend to be knowledgable about. Still, good to hear that a company is doing well.

At the same time, EA has announced a loss in quarter 3 of its fiscal year, despite various big-name titles. Games such as Left 4 Dead 2, Dragon Age and even FIFA 10 were not enough to stop the company from seeing a decline in profits from the previous holiday period.

However, with Dante’s Inferno already out as well as the massive Mass Effect 2, I don’t think it will be anything major to worry about for EA. With ME2 topping all the sales charts, it’s already looking like a good start to 2010 for the publishing giants.

We may have already known that Bioware was planning more content for Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 (and, of course, we already have some, but it’s always nice to hear it repeated just so they don’t forget.

“We like to support our games long-term,” BioWare founder Muzyka told IGN.“Our fans are really important to us, and we try and support them. We have long-term plans for both Dragon Age and Mass Effect.”

Just how long is long-term though?

“We have a separate team running in parallel as part of the franchise team,” he added. “You know, people are moving back and forth, but we’ve made a dedicated investment in DLC for Dragon Age and Mass Effect, so we’re going to support them for a long time.”

“Stand alone products, expansion packs, things like that as well.”

So, if you love Dragon Age and Mass Effect (just like I do) we’re going to get even more content to try and satisfy our appetite for these epic universes.

Check out the rest of the interview here, which concentrates on the future of Mass Effect and other Bioware franchises.

Mass Effect 2 has held onto the UK All-Formats chart top spot for a second week. Publisher EA’s latest release, Dante’s Inferno, debuted in fourth. Ubisoft’s budget Wii title Just Dance held on at two, while Modern Warfare 2 is in third and FIFA 10 made up the top five. Wii Sports Resort, MAG, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus and Avatar rounded out the top 10.

Star Trek Online spent a first week in 11th, and further down THQ’s new racer MX vs ATV: Reflex entered at 18th.

New releases outside of the All-Formats Top 40 were Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers, which finished 11th and 17th on the Wii chart. Disgaea 2: Dark Days Hero finished 9th on the PSP list, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. sequel Call of Pripyat finished 4th on the PC chart.

About three hours ago Bioware tweeted that additional free downloadable content will be coming to Mass Effect 2 in a short while via the Cerberus Network.

Free in-game content in a couple weeks for those who have activated Cerberus Network! Stay tuned for more details – Source

While it was expected it’s good to know that we only have to wait a few weeks to experience more of this epic game. Bioware hasn’t hinted about what the DLC will be, but a video showing a new character (along with the first DLC only character, Zaeed, from the first piece of free DLC) called Kasumi is up on Youtube. The rumour goes that the pack will be called ‘Hammerhead’, which is the name of a hover tank in the game.

F0r now you can download the ‘Normandy Crash Site’ and ‘Zaeed – The Price of Revenge’ DLC, which are free to anyone who bought the game and signs into the Cerberus Network with the supplied code. It’s unlikely you’ll find a used copy of the game yet, but for those who didn’t buy the game new you’ll have to pay 1200 points for access to Cerberus Network.

There’s only one release I care about this week, and that’s Bioware’s sci-fi epic Mass Effect 2. I haven’t been this excited about a game since GTA IV (and, no, it wasn’t a letdown for me) and it’s kicking off what is sure to be a great year for gaming.

Since PS3 owners are missing out they have the 250 player FPS MAG to provide some satisfaction. You can’t really compare the two games because they’re completely different genres, but I’m not stupid enough to think that everyone likes an RPG like Mass Effect 2.

If you don’t fancy either then there’s always Forklift Truck Simulator (ha ha), which our very own Sky Taylor wrote about over on her new website. If you’re getting that over either of the aforementioned games though then I think you seriously need to get your head tested.

The DLC that launches with Mass Effect 2 will reward players who purchase the game new

A few tasty details have surfaced in the last few days about the Mass Effect 2 downloadable content ‘confirmed’ to coincide with the game’s launch.

Well now they have been 100% confirmed, and there’s plenty there to look forward to. There will be an in-game portal for Mass Effect 2 where players can receive new pieces of DLC as well as news about the series. This feature will come in the form of a one-use redeemable code with new copies of the game. Players who buy the game pre-owned will have to pay a small fee.

There are a few pieces of downloadable content already published on Xbox Live, including weapons, armour and what I assume is a bonus mission, which you can get queued up to download ready for when the game launches. Here’s the list with links to their locations on Xbox Live Marketplace:

The hotly anticipated Mass Effect 2 is released in less than two weeks

Bioware recently posted on their Twitter in response to rumours that it would be releasing paid downloadable content at launch for Mass Effect 2.

They confirmed that they will “not be charging extra for any new Mass Effect 2 content on launch day”, and that there will be “More DLC details next week.” Not exactly a proper announcement as such yet, but at least we know that we will be getting DLC support from the release (which was an area that disappointed with the first game). Expect to hear more when more details are released.

Mass Effect 2 hits store shelves in the UK on the 29th of January on Xbox 360 and PC (including Steam).

BioWare Community Coordinator Chris Priestly has revealed that Mass Effect 2 will span two discs. “You cannot fit this much awesome on one disc,” Priestly boasted on the BioWare forums. He also confirmed that the disc swap happens at a dramatically appropriate point in the story.

“Even though there is a disc swap, it occurs at a carefully planned place in the game (that does not interfere with gameplay) and is done once. You do not swap back and forth. 1 swap and then done.”

More Bioware RPG is better than less RPG, although the DVD format is clearly starting to show its limitations.

Mass Effect 2 is due for release in late January 2010 on PC and Xbox 360.

The Eurogamer Expo currently in it's second year is in London for the next two days

Almost 2000 people queued up at 11 o’clock this morning to get into the second Eurogamer expo in London where many of this year and next year’s new releases are being shown off to the public.

After a successful two days at the Royal Armouries in Leeds the expo has moved down to the Old Billingsgate building in London for today and tomorrow. Late announcement Battlefield Bad Company 2 features alongside titles such as Mass Effect 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Left 4 Dead 2 that are playable at the Expo.